


Fox In The Henhouse

by Echo99



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Alien Impostor(s) (Among Us), Minor Body Horror, Minor Character Death, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27184342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echo99/pseuds/Echo99
Summary: Short story of the dramatically shortened life of a Skeld crewmate.
Kudos: 2





	Fox In The Henhouse

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing the game for the past few months, and I love it! This is just a short one-shot I wrote when inspiration struck. I might add more chapters for other crewmates/scenarios, but IDK right now. Hope you enjoy!

In the midst of space, aboard the Skeld, an orange suited figure sat in the pilot's chair of the ship. He fiddles with various buttons and screens on the dashboard, illuminated diagnostics reflecting off the smooth glass of the cockpit window.

The astronaut known as Charlie searches the various screens until he finds the one he is looking for; an overview of the steering systems. They had somehow become misaligned, and it was his job to set it right. Charlie grit his teeth as he hauled on the joystick, watching the navigation screen as he did. A crosshair slid into view, following Charlie's input. With deft movements, he corrected its trajectory, sending it to the centre of the screen. A chime sounded, signalling that the steering systems had stabilised, and Charlie released the ship controls tentatively. The joystick remained stationary. Satisfied, Charlie stood and moved away from the dashboard, raising an arm and opening the tablet mounted there. 

"One down, three to go." He muttered as he marked off the task. A creak sprang through the room, and Charlie's head snapped up at the sound. He craned his head, eyes scanning, straining to hear anything more. There was nothing. The room was still, computers humming softly as they worked. With a final glance around, his attention returned to his tablet.

Swiping, Charlie brought up a holographic map of the ship. Yellow exclamation points marked the areas that needed his attention; two sat adjacent in Electrical, and one at the ship's reactor. He lowered his arm, was about to set off when the alarms sounded. 

Crimson light flooded the ship as the klaxon blared repetitively overhead. Charlie looked around the Navigation Room wildly. During a crisis, all crewmates were required to wear their helmets in case of a sudden drop in oxygen levels. Charlie spied his own from its resting place by the door and jammed it onto his head, securing the airtight seal at the neck as he did. The HUD installed in his helmet screamed its warning that the reactor was slowly headed towards a catastrophic meltdown. Charlie cursed to himself. The reactor was on the opposite of the ship, so he would have to get moving. 

He sprinted out of the room, turning left and heading towards the back of the Skeld. Behind him, in the abandoned Navigation Room, the ventilation grate eased shut. 

* * *

“Shit, shit, shit!" 

Charlie swung around a corner, cursing as his momentum carried him into the opposing wall, then pushed off and continued. Sweat had built up on his skin from the exertion, and his visor had steamed up, partially obscuring his vision. On its inside edge, he could see the timer in the corner of his vision, ticking down slowly to disaster. 

Ahead of him, a red suited crewmate emerged from the Reactor entrance, checking the hallways frantically. When they spotted him, Charlie's earpiece crackled to life. 

"Charlie! Come on, I need your help!" they called, before ducking back into the room.

"Fox!" Charlie replied, speeding up to reach the doorway. As he reached it, he slid to a stop and took in the chaotic scene inside. Heat pulsed from the from the reactor in the back of the room, and the vertical status indicators glared a violent red. Glancing to the right, Charlie saw Fox standing by one of the two override panels. They waved him in the direction of the other panel. Moved over to it, he slapped his hand down onto the palm reader. The glow of the scanner behind his hand seemed to crawl down behind the glass of the panel. 

"Come on, come on." Charlie's eyes darted between the panel and his HUD, watching the time tick ever closer to disaster. "Can you please hurry the fu-"

Charlie flinched when a sharp hiss erupted from behind him. Turning, he saw steam flowing from the reactor's outlets as its indicators faded to a cool blue.

"Oh, thank you." Charlie stepped towards Fox, offering a high five, "Nice work, Fox."

"Ah, it was nothing," Fox replied, reciprocating the gesture. "After all, it's not like it was the most difficult thing ever."

Chuckling, Charlie reached up and disengaged his helmet seal, pulling it off his head. Notably, Fox didn"t do the same. 

"Not taking off your helmet?" he asked.

"Nah, I like the silence." His companion had turned away, head bent down, presumably occupied with his tablet. The dials on his equipment pack winked back at him, giving a readout from the suit’s various sensors. 

"Alrighty, well just make sure you don’t run out of…” Charlie’s voice faltered as his eyes caught the oxygen dial. It’s arrow pointed squarely at the zero marker. Fox’s tank was empty. Charlie’s breath quickened. How could that be? Fox was just talking to him, he could even see him breathing right now! Could the dial have malfunctioned? It was a direct line from the oxygen tank, so that was very unlikely. So what was going on? These thoughts swirled so heavily in his mind, he almost missed the low chuckle from the being in front of him.

Fox turned slowly to face Charlie, a small grin just visible through the glass on his helmet.

“Oh, silly me, I forgot to fill my oxygen tank,” Fox said in a sing-song voice, taking a step forward. In turn, Charlie scrambled a step back. “You people need that, don’t you? Human anatomy is so hard to remember.” His grin widened, growing past the point where any human face would have stopped. Charlie broke and dashed towards the reactor entrance. He was almost free when the hydraulic doors slammed shut in front of him. He crashed into them, hammering with all his might, trying in vain to break through.

“Help! Help me! Please, someone! Anyone!” Charlie’s voice cracked with the strain, and he sagged to his knees.

“No one can hear you, Charlie,” Fox crooned, stalking closer to the distraught man.

Turning to sit against the door, Charlie looked up at Fox. He had grown taller, his limbs stretched and warped as if in a funhouse mirror. His visor seemed to glare with a gleeful malice, reflecting the tearful expression of its prey. A rough seam had appeared at his suit’s stomach, and Charlie didn’t want to find out what it meant. His eyes stung as tears began to well up in the corners, and his breath caught in his throat. 

“What… What are you?” he choked through the sobs.

“Me?” Fox whispered. The seam in his torso ripped open, giving Charlie a clear view of the gaping maw that replaced it.

“I’m the fox, loose in the henhouse.”


End file.
